Huntsville gazette., 1887-04-16
SCOOPED.

! The Mystery of a Long Series OF
Freight Robberies Unearthed.
! Seventy-Five Freight Crews on the Pam
Handle Road Implicated-Whole-
sale Arrests Of the Thieves With
the Evidence of Their Guilt.
PITTsBCRaH, Pa, April 12.-The most I'M
portant arrests ever made in this part of
the country were begun at an early hour
yesterday morning and before nightfall the
officers of the Panhandle railroad had in
custody the most daring gang OF railroad
robbers this country has ever known.
How many members belong to it is not
made public, but they run up into the
hundreds. Their stealings extended over
a period Of two or three years, and the
amount stolen reaches sj0),001 Simul-
taneous arrests were made all along the
line Of the Panhandle road between here
and Columbus. Warrants have been in
the hands of the officers for some time,
and the persons arrested will comprise
nearly the entire freightmen of the line.
They include conductors, brakemen, en-
gineers and firemen. The ringleaders Of
the gang outside the railroad business
are known, and some Of them are now un-
der arrest.
The first arrests were made about two
O'Clock in the morning, the police sur
prising eighteen men at their boarding
houses. The men were taken at once to
the Jail. Further arrests were made be-
tween two O'Clock aud daylight, when
forty-six men, all railroad employees, con-
ductors, brakemen, hremen and engineers
were behind the bars. In speaking OF the
arrests prominent officer Of the Pan
Handle road said: E H
"For three years past the Panhandle
road has been systematically robbed.
Cars on sidings and cars in moving trains
were broken open and goods stolen, in
Guiding every description OF merchandise
1t is estimated that at least $500, 600 worth
of goods were taken, for which the conf
pany had to pay. In August last we got a
clew, and the company determined to push
it to the end. Detectives were employed
who followed up every scent, and finally
we had the Information upon which to
proceed. When everything was ready we
decided to make a move all along the line
from Columbus to Pittsburgh, and two
O'Clock this morning was fixed to strike the
bow. About eighty warrants were is
sued for men In Pittsburgh. / can't tell
how many for other places, but it was at
every point along the line; it will run uP
In the hundreds. 1t is the biggest thing
of the kind that ever happened in Pitts
burgh or in railroad matters in the world,
for nothing like it has ever happened
before. lean not tel who the mon are
Under arrest or who the ringleaders are
This much will sa :, however, we sus pect
outsiders Of being implicated In that rob-
berries, but know nothing positive"
Among those arrested w ..s a man named
Baker, against whom there are thirty
eight charges. Early one morning some
months ago at Sheridan station near this
city a train was stopped for wa;er. An
attack was made on the crew and in The
fight the fireman was shot. He after
wards died from his iriuries. At day
break it was found that two cars had been
broken open and their contents stolen.
Baker is accused of firing the shot that
killed the fireman, and this is understood
to be one of the thirty eight charges
against him.
Search warrants were made out for
several houses suspected as "fences" in
receiving and disposing Of the stolen
property: It Is currently believed that
much of the stolen goods will be re-
covered.
The following is partial list of the men
now in Jail as result Of the raid: John
Kirkwood, H. r. Kuhn, G. Longnecker, w
T. Lavcllc, George Morris. e. Watson, NJ
y. DOYLE j. H. Fisher, Sam Goodman, A.
Grifliths, William 1ssett, W. {. Martin,
W. S. Roth, John Sweeney, J. e. hea,
e. Shanks, j. a. TAYLOR, H. Z. Thompson,
William Briggs, J. y. Gueshal, T. q. Han.
lev. John Hastings, M. s. Joyce, -Bak
or, +. Emers. Edward Wolf, J. +. Hagcr-
~. John +. Gibbs. Mack Roberts. J. p.
Brennan. Robert Mackey, NJ &. Connolly,
George Schrur, L. Black, Thos. Vincent,
AL Coils, W. G. Bolas, John A. Bowser,
Charles Donavan, John Martin, J. w.
Aber, j. W. Rchey, j. t. Wright, H. w.
McCurry, j. I. Riney, j. L. Lawson.
DETECTIVES STORY. "
In an interview with Detective Rue
yesterday, the following account of the
inception of the robberies, their detec-
ton, the modus operandi, ETC., was given,
Mr.. Rue said: Two years ago we de-
cided 10 dispense with locks on the cars,
and introduced our present system of
seals. The seal is, Of lead, is about the
size Of Ave- cent piece, and is about one
eighth of an inch in thickness. The wire
used in connection with it is one OF six
teentf- inch iron wire. There are curls in
it to prevent its being pulled through the
lead seal. The method Of using 1t is
as follows: Wire is pushed through
the seal, then through the hasp
of the car doors, then back through the
Sc al again, forming an unbroken circle
An instrument then is used in impressing
the seals. That in use, say in Pittsburgh,
stamps upon the inverse side the letters
.B. g. IT. r. and upon the diverse side
p. St L. thus indicating that the car is
intact when it enters the Pittsburgh, Cln-
cinnati & st. Louis railroad bound west
ward. The two wires are imbe1ded at
the same stroke as the letters are i'm
printed. This understood, will give an
idea Of the inception Of the robbery and
it's discovery by the officials OF the
road. Eastern bound trains were
not molested- Western-b bound trains have
been the sufferers. AS near as we can
estimate 1t these robberies have been 60
ing on for two years. At first there was
timidity and they only occurred at long
| intervals, then daily growing bolder and
more general, until justIately every train
was q sufferer. We became coguizant OF